PHILADELPHIA – Coming off a tough, 17-15 loss at No. 4 Maryland last Saturday, the University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team gets right back at it this Saturday with another top-10 matchup. This time the Quakers face No. 10 Duke on a neutral-site field in Charlotte, N.C., and it should be an electric atmosphere at the Matthews Sportsplex Stadium.
 
GAME 2 – #7/8 PENN (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. #10/10 DUKE (2-1)
Saturday, Feb. 22 | 2 p.m.
Matthews Sportsplex Stadium | Charlotte, N.C.
Live Stats | Tickets
 
The Penn-Duke Series
*The Quakers and the Blue Devils are meeting for the tenth time overall, and Penn holds a 5-4 lead in the series.
 
*This series started with games in 1970 and 1971—Penn winning both of them—then went on hiatus until the 2010 season. This will be the eighth regular-season meeting in the last 11 seasons.
 
*Duke routed Penn a year ago in Durham, 17-7; it ended up being, by far, Penn's worst loss (by margin) all season. The year before that, however, the Quakers made history by besting a No. 1-ranked Duke team, 10-8, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. It remains the only time Penn has defeated a top-ranked team.
 
*We also should note that Penn head coach Mike Murphy is a Duke graduate, where he was a three-year starter and captain of the 1991 team.
 
Stuff You Should Know
*Penn went 12-4 last year, tying the program record for wins in a season (also 1984). After an 0-3 start, the Quakers ripped off 12 wins in a row before falling to Yale in the NCAA quarterfinal round.
 
*Penn went 6-0 in the Ivy League regular season last year, just its second unbeaten campaign (the other coming in 1984); the Quakers then beat Brown and Yale to win the Ivy League Tournament, becoming just the third team to go 8-0 through an Ivy campaign (also Cornell in 2011 and Yale in 2017).
 
*Sophomore Sam Handley was the Inside Lacrosse National Freshman of the Year as well as a unanimous choice as Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season. In IL's preseason pick of the top 10 Tewaaraton Award candidates for 2020, Handley was listed fifth.
 
*Penn head coach Mike Murphy was recipient of the F. Morris Touchstone Division I Coach of the Year award presented by the USILA last year, as well as the Ivy League Coach of the Year.
 
*After playing the Ivy League Tournament at Columbia the last two years—a neutral site, as the Lions do not field a varsity men's lacrosse program—the ILT will move to Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium this May 1 and 3.
 
*Penn's captains for the 2020 season will be senior attackman Adam Goldner and senior defenseman Kyle Thornton.
 
Penn Men's Lacrosse by the Numbers
2 • Penn players who were named to the Preseason USILA All-America Teams, sophomore Sam Handley on the first team and senior FOGO Kyle Gallagher on the second team.
 
3 • Penn players who were named to the Preseason Inside Lacrosse All-America Teams: Handley (first team), Gallagher (second team), and senior defenseman Mark Evanchick (third team).
 
4 • Penn players who were named to the USILA All-America Teams following last season: Handley (first team), Gallagher (third team), Evanchick (third team), and senior attackman Adam Goldner (honorable mention).
 
5 • Points recorded last Saturday by sophomore Dylan Gergar (3g/2a), a career high; he had 17 goals and five assists for 22 points as a freshman last season.
 
5 • Penn's preseason rank by Inside Lacrosse.
 
6 • Penn players who received All-Ivy honors last season: Handley (first team), Evanchick (first team), Goldner (second team), Gallagher (second team), senior defenseman Kyle Thornton (honorable mention) and sophomore LSM BJ Farrare (honorable mention).
 
8 • Consecutive goals scored by Maryland last Saturday, turning a 15-9 Penn lead into a 17-15 deficit (which ended up being the final score).
 
9 • Saves made last Saturday by sophomore goalkeeper Patrick Burkinshaw, who transferred to Penn from NCAA champion University of Virginia over the summer.
 
10 • Penn's preseason rank by Lacrosse Magazine.
 
13 • The number of returning players who scored at least one goal last year.
 
22:02 • In game time, Penn's scoreless drought at the end of last Saturday's game at Maryland. That came after the Quakers racked up 15 goals in the first 37:58.
 
26 • Consecutive games in which Goldner has recorded at least one goal/point, dating back to the 2018 season; his goal-scoring streak is tied for sixth-longest in the country among NCAA Division 1 players; he added to that streak with two goals and a career-high two assists last Saturday at Maryland.
 
36 • Points scored last season by junior midfielder Sean Lulley (19g/17a), who opened the 2020 season with a team-high four goals and six points.
 
56 • Goals scored by Goldner last season, a program record for a single campaign; he enters Saturday's game with 97 career goals, seventh on Penn's all-time list and just one behind sixth-place W. Kelso Morrill (98 from 1982-85).
 
62.5 • Gallagher's faceoff win percentage last year, as he won 270 out of 432 draws on the X and came up with 169 ground balls which was three shy of the program's single-season record. (Chris Flynn had 172 in 1988.)
 
75 • Wins at Penn by head coach Mike Murphy; he is the winningest coach in program history, surpassing the legendary Tony Seaman with the Quakers' NCAA Championship first-round win over Army last season.
 
124 • Combined points scored last season by Goldner (63) and Handley (61); Goldner's total is third on Penn's single-season list, while Handley's is fifth.
 
239 • Penn's goal total over 16 games last season, shattering (by 51!) the program record of 188 which was set over 15 games by the Quakers' 1988 NCAA semifinal team.